Commonwealth Numbered Regulations - Explanatory Statements

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MILITARY SUPERANNUATION AND BENEFITS DECLARATION NO. 7 1997 NO. 311

STATUTORY RULES 1997 No. 311

ISSUED BY THE AUTHORITY OF THE MINISTER FOR DEFENCE INDUSTRY, SCIENCE AND PERSONNEL

MILITARY SUPERANNUATION AND BENEFITS ACT 1991

MILITARY SUPERANNUATION AND BENEFITS DECLARATION No. 7

The Military Superannuation and Benefits Act 1991 ("the Act") makes provision in Part 8 for the payment of a retention benefit to certain members of the Military Superannuation and Benefits Scheme ("the Scheme") who have completed 15 years of continuous eligible service. The purpose of the benefit is to induce members to serve for another 5 years to their 20 year point. An "eligible member" is defined in section 30 of the Act to include: an officer who holds the rank not lower than Major or equivalent (or who was previously an enlisted member); an enlisted member who holds the rank of Sergeant or equivalent; or a member declared by the Minister to be an eligible member.

Members who fail to satisfy the minimum rank requirement and are in employment categories where the normal opportunities for promotion do not exist have been declared to be eligible members by the Minister. These employment categories, referred to as specified categories, are listed in the Minister's declarations.

One of the purposes of this Declaration is to enable the deletion of two of the employment categories included in Military Superannuation and Benefits ("MSB") Declaration No. 6 (Statutory Rules 1996 No. 169). These employment categories are no longer needed as members within the two affected categories will now be capable of being promoted to the rank of Sergeant or equivalent. This has been achieved by revoking that Declaration and redeclaring the categories in that Declaration that still need to be covered. The new Declaration also ensures that members in revoked categories who have become eligible to receive the retention benefit will retain their eligibility.

The other purpose of this Declaration is to declare as eligible members two members of the Scheme who have not reached the required rank but satisfy the eligibility criteria applicable under a special grouping labelled the Inter Employment Category. The Inter Employment Category is unusual in that it is not a specific employment group within the Defence Force. It covers individual Defence Force members who have not reached required rank for eligibility, have been transferred out of their normal employment group as a result of Defence Force restructuring, and would have been promoted to the required rank for retention benefit eligibility by the time they had served for 15 years had they not been transferred.

Clause 1. Citation

This clause is formal.

Clause 2. Interpretation

This clause defines who is an eligible member for the purposes of the Declaration.

Clause 3. Revocation

This clause revokes MSB Declaration No. 6 which declared the Navy categories of Aviation Pilot and Communications-Signals and the Air Force categories of Advanced Aircraft Structural Fitter and Non Destructive Inspection Technician as specified categories.

Clause 4. Eligible members

This clause defines who is an eligible member for the purposes of the Declaration.

Subclauses 4(a) and (b)

These subclauses provide for the two Inter Employment Category members to be eligible members for the purposes of the Declaration.

Subclause 4(c)

This subclause continues the eligibility of members in the Navy categories of Aviation Pilot and Communications-Signals previously covered by MSB Declaration No. 6 by providing that the persons in employment categories listed in Part 1 of the Schedule are eligible members.

Subclause 4(d)

This subclause deals with the employment categories previously declared by MSB Declaration No. 6 that are no longer necessary. (These are the Air Force categories of Advanced Aircraft Structural Fitter and Non Destructive Inspection Technician.) However, it ensures that persons who are or become members of these categories up to the commencement of this Declaration do not lose their eligibility. It does this by providing that persons in the employment categories listed in Part 2 of the Schedule are eligible members if they were included in either of these categories in the period from 31 July 1996 to immediately before the day on which this Declaration is gazetted. (31 July 1996 was the gazettal date of MSB Declaration No. 6.)

Schedule

Part 1

This Part of the Schedule lists the two ' employment categories previously declared by MSB Declaration No. 6 that continue to be eligible specified categories.

Part 2

This Part of the Schedule lists the two employment categories that are no longer necessary.

Commencement

The Declaration comes into operation on the date of gazettal.